By Carol Stiffler
Luce County is no longer a sanctuary county.
By some error – presumably on behalf of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – Luce County was listed as a sanctuary county. That label came from ICE, and according to their documents, we earned it by not complying with ICE detainers in our jail.
But Luce County doesn’t have a jail, though there’s a temporary holding cell in the county government building. Luce contracts with Alger County, which reserves a minimum of 10 beds for Luce County at all times.
In addition, Sheriff Eric Gravelle asserts the county would always cooperate with ICE. If an undocumented immigrant was being held in our holding cell or in a Luce County bed at the Alger County Jail, ICE agents would be given access to the inmate and the county would follow extradition as requested.
On Friday, February 20, Gravelle spoke to Jessica Vaughn, director of policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, confirming that the county is and intends to be fully compliant with ICE.
Vaughn could only speculate how Luce County landed on the list in the first place. Her organization keeps a list of sanctuary cities and counties – a list obtained from ICE – and identifies them all on an interactive map. The purpose of the map is not to guide illegal immigrants to safe havens; rather, it intends to expose non-compliance to immigration law.
It could have been an error. It could have been a misunderstanding. But as of February 20, 2025, Luce County no longer appears on that map.
“It’s a great thing when we can take people off the map, for one reason or another, whether it’s because we can correct it, or because a policy has changed,” Vaughn said.
Now the county has documented its intended sanctuary status, too. At the February 18 meeting of the Luce County Commissioners, the commission discussed and passed a resolution stating that the county is not and never was a sanctuary county. The vote was 5-1, with Christine Rathje voting no – she said a lot of people could get a fresh start in Newberry.
Sterling McGinn contributed to this report.
